How We Planned Our Trip to Aruba

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One Happy Island

Aruba-“One Happy Island” is the island’s motto. Sun, sand, surf. What more could you ask for in a Caribbean vacation. This will be my first time visiting the island and I’m so ready for it!

We plan on snorkeling, hiking, sunbathing, eating delicious food, drinking yummy drinks and just relaxing. It’s going to be glorious!

It took us about a week to decide on an all-inclusive resort to call our home for four nights. We used Travelocity to aid us in our decision-making. We wanted to stay at an all-inclusive resort that had the right amenities we were looking for. Free snorkeling equipment, free kayaking, close to hiking paths, on the beach, and great reviews were mandatory. And of course, we didn’t want the trip to cost an arm and a leg.

Thanks Travelocity!

Travelocity makes it pretty easy to find the destination you’re looking for, even if you don’t have a hotel in mind. Once you’ve selected the dates you want to travel, and your destination, there are many filters that you can choose to narrow down your search even more.

If you’re looking for a five-star resort in a certain neighborhood, or there’s an amenity you’re looking for, like child care, you can filter your search that way. Travelocity makes it pretty easy to find what you’re looking for. There’s usually a plethora of options!

We’re always looking for a great vacation at a low to moderate cost. That means that we will probably never stay in a five-star resort, and we’re okay with that. We can find everything we want at a great resort for half the cost.

Credit card hacking isn’t something that we currently do, so we are paying for the whole trip out-of-pocket. I do use Ebates when shopping online, so we will be getting around $300 back from purchasing our vacation through Travelocity. I’ll have to wait a couple of months before I receive that check, but I’m okay with that!

Ebates gives you money back for shopping online through certain stores. Join through this link and receive $10 for your first purchase! There are hundreds of stores and sites to choose from including Amazon, JCPenny, Kohl’s, and Old Navy.

The Perfect All-Inclusive for Our Vacation

We were pretty open to visiting any island in the Caribbean that had everything we were looking for. We just happened to find everything we were looking for on Aruba. We’ll be staying at the beautiful Tamarijn Aruba All Inclusive.

It’s a beachfront property. I’ve always dreamed of staying right on the beach and I finally get to experience it! We’ll be staying on the west side of the island, so we’ll get to see the beautiful sunset on the ocean every night. You can bet I’ll be taking a ton of pictures!

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Another thing that’s awesome about this all-inclusive is that it partners with another hotel down the beach. All guests that stay at the Tamarijn Aruba All Inclusive can eat at the restaurants at the Divi Aruba All-Inclusive . How cool is that? That gives us a lot more choices for dinner!

Is this a frugal vacation?

No, it’s not. But I’m okay with it. I’ve spent about $1,500 on this vacation so far, and I’m not even there yet!

Traveling is one thing that I don’t want to deprive myself on during this slow journey to early retirement. Besides, we don’t travel very often. Last year we stayed in Minnesota and our only vacation was camping at a State Park a few hours away.

My frugality enables me to enjoy this vacation free of guilt. I don’t go into debt to travel and I never will. I paid for this vacation with a credit card, however I paid off the balance before any interest came due. If I had a problem with credit card debt I would definitely not be going on vacation!

This trip only set me back a tiny bit on my journey to early retirement, and it’s going to be totally worth it!

Are you planning on doing any traveling this summer? Where are you going?